Officially imposing a total ban on education and educational
institutions, Nepal's hereditary Rana rulers who ruled Nepal for 104 years
(1846 -- 1950) set up psychological patterns of flattery, nepotism and
favoritism, constantly institutionalizing and crystallizing them during their
period. Those psychological patterns, visible in the everyday behavior of all
theNepali parties and the majority of their workers strongly exist even today,
despite some changes in appearances. As a result, institutionalizing democracy and
republic still remains a tough challenge in Nepal.

Substituting the age-old monarchy, Nepal entered a new phase
of federal democratic republic in 2008. But this has become a mere
constitutional ornament. The same privileged classes based on wealth and
individual access to resources are dominant decision-makers in every sector. This
remains a stark reality in Nepal even after the nine years of declaration of
republic.

Unfortunately, republican features are yet to be developed.
Scanty research has been conducted over this issue. Old and traditional
patterns of democracy seem to be the greatest hurdle in creating and activating
new republican structures and to make people feel the difference.

Converting dull-minded voters into analytical citizens is a
serious business. Political parties, dominant in the Nepali political market, have
to ardently and steadfastly work to democratize their own internal
decision-making processes before they grow intelligent enough to apply
democracy and republic at grassroots levels. So far a few party bigwigs
personally take decisions and get them stamped by the party in the style of
village landlordism widely practiced in the feudal era.

Moreover, institutional and
structural corruption has doubled poverty, catapulting millions of youths to
the Gulf region for manual labor. The amount of wealth under the few cannot be
considered a genuine economic growth. Mass poverty can be seen in the broad
daylight.

State practices are
dedicated to undocumented and nontax-paying brokers, with lots of invisible
layers. The nation has not been able to collect taxes properly and adequately
because of massive unregistered brokership coupled with rigidified corruption,
top to bottom.

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The greatest challenge to implement republic in Nepal lies
in the issue of accountability, transparency and just distribution of
resources. So long as leading political parties are helpless about disclosing
the funds they collect to run their parties, their governments cannot do
anymore to institutionalize transparency. So long as parties are not able to
investigate and punish their mafia-connected leaders and workers, leading
parties will not be able to run a government accountable to people. So long as
the leadings parties cannot work to willingly end the Rana-era patterns of
flatterism, nepotism and favoritism, they are not likely to develop a
statemanly character to drive the nation well.

Without the development of a statemanly character, political
parties can neither run internal affairs nor handle internationalrelations in a
proper manner. The expected statesmanship can be possible only through the
process of moral and mental development, without which no other human spheres
can ever be developed. But the educational system itself is too anarchic to
facilitate an environment for people's moral and mental development.

These are some of the basic issues worth considering, while
the Nepalis remind themselves of their republic promulgated nine years ago, and
especially at a time when the neo-fedualization of republic is going on,
something ignored even by civil society forces, who often claim to have been
super-fighters for republic and human rights.